Middlemarch

The last stage of the Otago Rail Trail was today's agenda item: Hyde > Middlemarch.

But before we got on the bikes, we enjoyed the birds singing outside our accommodation ...

 ... and the rabbits jumping around.

The grandeur of the Otago landscape was of the same overwhelming standard as the previous days.

After an hour or so, we encountered a local farmer "running" his dogs.

We had a long and interesting chat with him and the dogs about this-and-that.

Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae).

Passed a derelict house with this tiny owl as its sole inhabitant ...

... and a sleepy Pied Stilt (Himantopus himantopus),

and a Shoveler (Anas rhynchotis) shoveling for food items.

We eventually reached the end of the Rail Trail. The Otago railway was constructed 115 years ago by thousands of hardy boys in the rail gangs, ...

but it took only one Hardie Boys to open the Otago Rail Trail 19 years ago.

. . .

I apologize for the lack of blog entries for the past 2-3 days. Out here in the countryside internet is limited commodity. – Tomorrow we will make our way to the township of Lawrence and prepare to start of another bicycle trail: The Clutha Gold Trail.

Hyde

We began today with this magnificent dawn over the Maniototo range.

It was a cool morning but we got going already at 8 a.m. with the township of Hyde as our destination.

We thoroughly enjoyed riding through a grand landscape with  a wide horizon and a big sky.

These sheep are all very well behaved proceeding in single file across their pasture.

The magnitude and extend of the grasslands reminded us about the prairie in N America.

On distant mountain tops we saw some new snow; autumn is coming!

We did a short stop at Ranfurly. Here's the old railway station as it looks today ...

... and what it looked like in its heydays 115 years ago.

Just out of Ranfurly, we encountered this line of more-or-less dried wild boar carcasses being hung on a sheep pasture fence. – A strange way of letting the world know that you dislike the wild boars.

Farther down the trails, farmers could purchase some of the farm necessities like "tanks, killing sheds, troughs and posts".

A somewhat typical abode for a farm country family in this region.

It turned out to become a very hot day and we were happy to find this absolutely wonderful place along the Taieri river where we spent our siesta.

We continued towards Hyde ...

... and when Saturn was low is the sky ...

... we reached our last tunnel on the trail and once that was negotiated ...

... the old school in the township of Hyde appeared around a trail bend. Here we "camped" overnight.

Wedderburn

A beautiful dawn came upon us in Omakau.

After a very early breakie we jumped on the bikes and took off from Tiger Hill Lodge.

Today’s stage would take us to Wedderburn but first we need to pedal around 50 km on the rail trail. Only occasionally did we encounter areas with intensive agriculture; 

mostly we biked through a dry-looking landscape of rolling, boulder- and matagauri-strewn hills with sheep.

We rolled over several old bridges ingeniously constructed …

… and through two tunnels chiseled out by the tough and rough “rail gangs” some 115 years ago.

We did see some wildlife.

After a veeery looong straight stretch the trail eventually led us to Oturehua.

At the outskirts of the tiny village we stopped and decided to have ...

... some lunch at an old homestead.

Then we proceeded to the other four houses in the village and found the oldest and still functioning general store in New Zealand.

Inside Gilchrist's 117-year-old store tins, cans, bags and packages of all kinds of long-gone brands were still for sale.

A couple of kms farther along the trail we met a sheep farmer family + three dogs all engaged in treating their rounded-up sheep. 

At a surprisingly fast rate the sheep were funneled through gate and fences and then each individual squeezed itself through a contraption that applied to the sheep a forceful spray of fluid; a treatment against fleas or the like, I assume.

Another long stretch of trail had to be covered, but fortunately we had a strong tailwind.

By mid afternoon we reached our overnight destination: Wedderburn

It is not even a village, but just some cottages for tired bikers – and a tavern 300 meters away by an asphalt road.

We are now in cottage # 12 and are enjoying this view over the sheep pastures and towards the Maniototo mountains.

. . .

Tomorrow will be a new day of exploring – and we should be in the village of Hyde by tomorrow evening.

Omakau

So, we're on the trail: the Otago Central Rail Trail. 

Five years ago the old iron rails and the old wooden sleepers were removed – and the 100-years-old Central Otago railway was turned into a new rail trail.

Today's stage from Clyde was 44 km and took us through very beautiful landscapes ...

... with the odd farms and stocks here and there ...

... but mostly just scorched and semi-arid areas; even the ubiquitous thistles dry out.

Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris).

At a few places plants were still flowering and some birdlife was present.

Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus).

Manuherikia River.

Along the Manuherikia River we pit stopped at Chatto Creek tavern, said g'day to Honkey the donkey ...

... and enjoyed a light lunch, including a freshly made "donkey doo".

This photo is for Frank D. – We got away unseen!

After that it was all "downhill".

We arrived in the village of Omakau and our accommodation "Tiger Hill Lodge" where we were expected.

On our way around the Omakau neighbourhood we passed the Daniel O'Connell suspension bridge over the Manuherikia River.

. . .

Cloud cover allowing, I will try to take a few evening/night/stars photos later on, as the lodge is suitably located for that. – We'll see.